


scorch with fire

by bookoftheazuresky



Series: star followed star [7]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Non-Consensual Touching, Plug and Play (nonsexual), discussing your dead trinemate with your new trinemate, that ends in burns because Sunstorm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 17:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17492318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookoftheazuresky/pseuds/bookoftheazuresky
Summary: Resolution means both a firm decision to do or not to do something and the action of solving a problem. Sunstorm does both.





	scorch with fire

**Author's Note:**

> From this fic on, there is no dubcon! Yay!
> 
> Note: Thundercracker and Sunstorm do make a hardline connection in this fic, but it's for communication purposes, not for sex.

“No,” Sunstorm said with finality. Not loudly, because Sunstorm’s opinion on intra-factional fights was ‘I don’t start them, I finish them.’ But with unmistakable emphasis nonetheless.

“No?” Megatron repeated. Sunstorm didn’t look at him. Just having him this close was making the seeker’s plating crawl. The amused disbelief in his voice provoked a different- and much more aggressive- feeling, however.

“I certainly hope that a glyph a protoform can learn is within your comprehension level,” Sunstorm observed, keeping his tone level as a drawn blade. Mechs in the war room were starting to notice the confrontation despite the low voices. “It only has the one meaning, after all.”

“I am your commander,” Megatron said, amusement gone.

“Oh, you are ordering me to your berth as my commanding officer?” Sunstorm asked, not bothering to keep his voice down this time. It got him a lot of attention, too. “What is the word for that?” He paused, deliberately. “Oh yes. _Sad_.” He continued, flat and hostile, “Or perhaps _Senatorial_ would be a better description.”

Megatron seized his chin. “I think-“ he recoiled almost as quickly as he had made contact, fingers burned black. Radiation burn _hurt_ , as Sunstorm had often been told.

“If you wish to speak to me, do so in a professional capacity,” Sunstorm told him coldly, now meeting his gaze, reducing his temperature back to his normal slightly-too-warm running level. “And if you touch me again, _ever_ , I will scorch your hands off. Do you understand me?”

The whole room was staring. It might have bothered him if he hadn’t been so angry. But this, too, had a purpose- a Decepticon leader would not court humiliation at the hands of their subordinates. Turning what Sunstorm had already framed as a lover’s quarrel into a true confrontation would be extremely lowering. And being willing to fight in a public place- to provoke a fight at all- was out of character for Sunstorm, and so worth caution rather than an attempt to meet it headfirst. This time.

A long moment to let it sink in, maintaining optic contact. Megatron looked furious, but there was a thread of something else in his expression that Sunstorm couldn’t interpret and didn’t care to. Sunstorm didn’t get a verbal acknowledgment, but he hadn’t expected one. He was going to have to make good on his threat several times, at the very least. And then, he suspected, he was going to have to deal with Megatron attempting to deal with what he saw as rebellion by physical means. Sunstorm had every intention of dealing with that publicly and proactively as well.

A flip and settle of his wings, and he strode out without waiting for a dismissal.

~

The white and gold seeker was waiting by the door to Thundercracker’s room when he got off shift. The blue seeker froze when their optics met. “I think that we should talk,” Sunstorm finally said.

Thundercracker’s spark clenched. Were those ever good words to hear? “Yes, trineleader,” he said obediently, dropping his gaze to the floor and his wings down. Sunstorm had made it very clear in the aftermath of their fight that what he wanted from his trinemates was distance and silence, which had been hard on all three of them. Still, Sunstorm wasn’t wrong. They couldn’t continue like this.

The result, though…Sunstorm was perfectly capable of dismissing both of his wingmates. In an irretrievably broken trine, it was even the expected thing to do, though the decision in those cases was less unilateral than the one that the Air Commander would make. Sunstorm would drop Thundercracker and Skywarp from his trine and pick out another two seekers that he felt he could work with, probably another bereaved pair that hadn’t been assigned a third yet.

And Thundercracker and Skywarp would go back to being just another pair of Elite seekers with a half-pariah reputation, but even worse because they would have been rejected by their trineleader. They’d probably be assigned elsewhere, with a new third. And Sunstorm wouldn’t be cruel about it, even though Thundercracker wouldn’t blame him if he was.

He didn’t want it. He didn’t want that to happen. He wanted to beg not to be sent away, but being stuck in perpetual silence with a first-in-flight who didn’t trust him any more might be worse. He almost wanted to ask Sunstorm to not bring Skywarp into this, it was clearly Thundercracker’s lead and Thundercracker’s failings that the dark seeker had followed, but he’d already lost one wingmate and he was going to lose a second; he wasn’t strong enough to have Skywarp leave him too.

“Thundercracker, open your vents,” Sunstorm ordered, sounding subtly exasperated. “And your door, while you’re at it.”

Slightly lightheaded, Thundercracker did. He sat down on his berth when his trineleader pointed, then looked up at the other seeker, waiting for the blow to fall.

Sunstorm crossed his arms across his cockpit, canting a hip and looking like he didn’t quite know what to do with Thundercracker. It was one of those rare postures where the resemblance to Starscream actually came clear- in motion, out of the corner of your optic, you might mistake one bright seeker for the other, but Sunstorm made almost none of the same expressions and their voices and manner of speech had little in common.

“I have been…considering. When we last spoke of,” Sunstorm made a vague gesture, not needing to clarify what he was referring to, “I was not thinking beyond my emotional reactions. I still, more or less, feel the same way. I was, I _am_ …hurt that you would conceal this from me. I think I am justified in feeling that this secret affects me more than you.”

“But I have to concede to your point that my belief would not have been easily won. Since being driven further into _his_ arms is what I think would have resulted, I will abide by your decision in that matter.” Sunstorm dipped his wings in a gesture of acknowledgment, the one he would have given Thundercracker as trineleader.

The partial absolution was a shock. Thundercracker opened his mouth, only to be hushed.

“Not yet.” Sunstorm pulled his hand back. “I believe…” he corrected himself, “I _want_ to believe, that you did the best you could. I can see some of the reasons. But I cannot…feel those reasons as reality. I don’t trust you enough anymore.”

Thundercracker flinched.

“So.” Sunstorm offered his arm, the dataports just above his wrist bared. “Convince me.”

A hardline connection could run anywhere from a perfunctory data exchange no more intimate than a handshake to deep systems access that put one mech’s functioning in another mech’s hands. Sunstorm’s offer-slash-demand was not quite so invasive as the latter, but it was certainly invasive _enough_. It was a double-edged sword- no chance of misunderstanding, for good or ill.

But. Thundercracker had wanted the opportunity to plead his case. Sunstorm was offering him that opportunity. This was his last and only chance.

“Alright,” Thundercracker forced out of his vocalizer, a thin whisper.

He’d done this with Sunstorm before a few times- first to check his initial firewalls and partitioning, because Thundercracker trusted Shockwave about as far as an Autobot could throw him, and later because hardline was the most secure communication method Cybertronians had ever invented. So the _stellar-light-and-gravity-well_ presence in the link was familiar enough. But previously Thundercracker had always kept everything locked down. Sunstorm _really_ hadn’t needed a good look into his trineleader’s processor when he was young.

_Well?_ Sunstorm didn’t grab ahold of the link as half-expected, rather waiting-on at the edge of the elder seeker’s perception- close enough to gauge sincerity, but letting Thundercracker choose how he would present his case.

Alright. Where should he start? No, he knew: _dying tricolor seeker in his arms, cockpit and chest opened, energon everywhere, from the mouth and sparkchamber and- just a bad luck call, they hadn’t had any intel that Autobot snipers were anywhere near the battle, or even on-planet, for Primus’ sake! But the words wouldn’t come, much too late, too used to standing around and letting them fight until it was real-_

_-the morgue, laying the now-graying frame on the slab, Skywarp touched Star’s face with shaking fingers, like he couldn’t believe it was true, Thundercracker couldn’t either, when did Star get so_ small _-_

_-the thing is, ever since Starscream crashed into his and Skywarp’s lives, cold-constructed flyer Senator with a determination like grim death and a smile like cities burning, Thundercracker half-thought, down in the depths of his spark, that the mech was immortal. Now it just felt like Megatron ripped the spark out of him too-_

The feeling of someone reading a datapad over his shoulder: Sunstorm was interested, touching lightly on the memories of his predecessor, riffling through them like flimsies but not anything more than the edges. Interesting but not central to his question, he implied, then softer, _sorry for your loss._

Not central, maybe, but it was the start of the thread that would get them both there. Thundercracker pulled the next memory he wanted, one they both had from different sides: _bright, young seeker, a new MTO wingmate. Orders straight from Megatron, and why? Elite plus the lingering stain of being the former First Trine, why would they be picked? And doesn’t this young one look_ too _familiar? Thundercracker pushed the questions down, at least they’re getting less trouble these days with the assignment reassuring mechs that proximity might not result in death-_

_-rumors, Ion Storm looked over his shoulder as he spoke even with the privacy barrier, that Shockwave might be playing at resurrecting the dead. “Did you make_ sure _that the frame was salvaged and smelted?” Ion asked, wings tight. There was no need to clarify whose-_

_-Queasy clench of his fuel tank as Thundercracker looked at Megatron and Sunstorm, the young seeker tilting his head up with a look of almost awe on his lovely face. Staying afterwards to hear Megatron’s orders, the words unimportant but the message of_ stay silent _more than clear, a warning that Thundercracker can read in the wings and body language of the other senior trines-_

_-Dents and paint transfers and I can’t do this again, but I have to, Primus, what am I supposed to do-_

_-if Megatron did it once, what makes Thundercracker think he won’t do it again, rip the wings off of this little one and make him watch, just for not being Starscream-_

_-just don’t talk about Star, Thundercracker pleaded with Skywarp over comms while the white and gold youngling slept curled against his thigh plating, teach him how to fly, how to fight, but nothing about Star-_

_-you’re doing fine, he said, willing Sunstorm to believe him, you’re doing so well. He tucked the hesitant young mech under his chin and wrapped him up like Thundercracker would be any use as a shield. This was what he was supposed to be doing, not killing people, but the only thing he could make sure of was that Sunstorm wasn’t sent blindfolded into battle-_

**_Stop._ **

Thundercracker stopped, vaguely conscious that his frame was hyperventilating. Looking back, all of his memory files from those early stellar cycles were colored by how _afraid_ he was the whole time, how trapped he was. It wasn’t until Sunstorm had become trineleader that he’d stopped being so afraid; unfortunately, it was probably just because he was not one of nature’s trineleaders, no matter how well he could fake it, and not a real assessment of potential death for them all.

_How did you even function_ , Sunstorm wondered, his steady _light-and-gravity_ much closer and more thoughtful than before. And a little bit dismayed, too, that Thundercracker had been carrying all this.

_I don’t know_ , Thundercracker admitted. _One day at a time, mostly. I still messed it all up, though_.

_That, I will not deny._ Sunstorm pulled one of the memories closer, the one where Thundercracker had caught him with Megatron’s marks all over him. He touched the confluence there, the beginning of a web of interlocking thoughts and consideration of _what can I do_ , strung through his memory files like steelsilk threads. _I believe I can find my way from here._

_Do what you need to._ Sunstorm had a light touch, despite his youth and inexperience. Plus, Thundercracker didn’t really need to keep op sec in mind when his trinemate outranked him and was SIC of the Decepticons besides.

He could feel Sunstorm shuffling through his memory files for a while- this far down it was hard to track time accurately. Eventually, he felt the other seeker come to a conclusion- not happily, exactly, but a relief all the same.

_Alright_ , Sunstorm said, not precisely gently, but softly. Thundercracker wasn’t absolved, or yet forgiven, but Sunstorm knew all about bad choices made under fire, and Thundercracker’s intent had been to salve, not to wound.

Besides, he couldn’t exactly blame Thundercracker for not taking routes that were only open to Sunstorm himself. Thundercracker got an impression of intense calculations happening beneath Sunstorm’s placid surface, then was pushed back. _I am working on it. I know how to ask for help if needed._ A pause. _You and Skywarp might be safer if…_

_Yeah, he killed our old trinemate and has been abusing our new one_ , Thundercracker retorted. _I want in. Pretty sure Skywarp will too, but you can ask him yourself. I/We want to stay with you._ With their third, the one who had brought light with him. It wasn’t the same as what they had lost, and they would never get that back, but they could be mended.

Sunstorm sighed, relieved and resigned in equal measure. _Then stay._

~

Skywarp had clearly thought he was answering Thundercracker’s knock on his door- seeing Sunstorm instead made him do a slightly comical double-take.

“I just finished talking to Thundercracker,” Sunstorm told him.

“Are you ditching us?” Skywarp blurted anxiously before he could say anything else.

“Do you want to be? I’m sure you’ve heard already.” People had been looking at Sunstorm like a weapon of mass destruction wearing a seeker frame (technically true), so the news had clearly spread.

“Uhhh,” Skywarp made a face, rubbing his cheek, “I dunno if anybody’s told you this, Sunshine, but me and TC were on Megatron’s blacklist before you ever came along. We’re pretty good at handling it.”

In retrospect, the Elite duo had been a bit of a mess when Sunstorm had been put into their care, but considering they had still been functioning, Sunstorm had to concede the point.

He told Skywarp, “I just want to hear why you went along with the ‘let’s not tell Sunstorm anything and let Megatron do whatever he wants’ plan.”

Skywarp winced. “You’re still mad.”

“That is not going to change in the near future. I understand why Thundercracker made the choices he did, but that does not mean I was not injured by those choices, and while I was in his- and your- care.” The dark seeker flinched again.

“I’m not the smart one,” Skywarp said, wings hanging low. “I mean, I’m not _that_ dumb, but I can’t look at people and tell what they’re gonna do. Not unless it’s a fight. Star, TC, you, you’ve all got waaaay better strategic processing than I do. TC was _terrified_ , so I just,” he shrugged, “did what he wanted.”

“And Star was…I mean, he could be a _huge_ aft, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think you really get what it was like being a cold constructed flight frame when Functionalism was a big deal. Nobody expected anything from him, and they wanted to keep him where he ‘belonged.’ So he was always focused on showing everybody up. It was amazing, because if you could keep up with him he’d pull you so high…Me ‘n TC would never have gotten to First Trine without him.” Skywarp looked down. “Talking about him after…we’re not made to lose our trineleaders, you know. There was this big gaping hole, and nobody else would say anything, because they were scared too, and…”

“This isn’t what I wanted. I wanted us to stop being treated like _things_ , but…” Skywarp trailed off, still looking away.

“But Megatron treated me and Starscream like things,” Sunstorm supplied.

“Yeah.” Skywarp fidgeted. “Maybe we should have gone off after Deathsaurus, after all.”

“I do not think that would have worked,” Sunstorm said tiredly. “I think the only thing that will stop him is me hurting him until he gets it through his processor that touching me will end in pain.”

“I-Sunshine, what do you think’s gonna happen if the Decepticons put someone like that on a throne?” Skywarp blurted, like it had been eating him from the inside.

Sunstorm said, very precisely, “I will rip this faction out from under him before it comes to that.”


End file.
